In the building and finishing trades such as carpentry, electrical, construction, plumbing, and the like, the workmen must work with their materials, both prior to placing the materials in their final setting and also afterward. For example, a carpenter must measure, shape and ready various types of lumber before it can be erected or placed, a plumber must measure, cut, thread and otherwise ready his supplies before they can be installed, etc. After the materials and supplies are readied and placed into their intended environment, the workmen must secure them, inspect, and otherwide prepare them for use.
In each of these activities the workmen must support the materials and supplies in order to be able to work with them, and during installation of the materials and supplies the workmen must support themselves on ladders or other raised supporting surfaces in order to be able to reach their work. A common device which has been used for these purposes is the conventional four-legged sawhorse. While such a device may be inexpensive and easily replaceable if it fails or is damaged, there are numerous disadvantages associated with such a device. Because the sawhorse has four legs it does not provide a stable or safe supporting surface unless all four legs are supported in the same plane. Accordingly, the sawhorse does not provide a stable support when used on uneven surfaces. Yet, on a typical construction site virtually all surfaces are uneven.
Furthermore, typical sawhorses are limited in the amount of weight that they can safely support because of the nature of their construction. Also, when conventional sawhorses are used to support scaffolding the problems of stability are compounded because there are at least two sawhorses used for that purpose. Consequently, it is then necessary to position two such devices in the same plane in order to obtain a stable support. This, of course, is very difficult to do on a construction site.
Moreover, most workmen must continually work with electrically powered tools in their trade and accordingly are using electrical extension cords in order to bring electricity to the work site. Such extension cords of necessity are connected to the various power tools and are constantly being dragged over the sawhorses, the materials and the supplies as the workmen move their tools. This not only poses the danger of workmen tripping on the cords but also creates a hazard of the cords being caught, cut, or entangled in the power tools.
Some of the problems associated with the use of conventional sawhorses may be alleviated by the use of tables. However, tables, of necessity, would be larger, heavier and much more cumbersome to transport and position than the conventional sawhorse. Naturally, the tables would also be more expensive to construct and would not be as easy to use by an individual workman. The tables would not alleviate the problems associated with uneven supporting surfaces.